Something To Really Worry About

As a result of the "infection" of so-called white nose syndrome (WNS),
our AVP, Ray Keeler, has authorized me to close all NSS-owned caves on
NSS nature preserves in the Northeastern US for the remainder of the
winter. This includes the McFails, Barton Hill, Schoharie and Tytoona
properties.

The cause of WNS is unknown, as are transmission factors and mitigative
measures. Whatever is causing WNS is quite deadly, killing 50 - 97
percent of affected bats. Species known to be adversely affected include
the little brown myotis, Indiana bat, gray bat and southeastern
pipistrelle. So far only hibernating bats are known to be affected, but
this may be a consequence of the fact that WNS has only very recently
been discovered. Likewise, only caves in the Northeast are so far known
to be affected, but this may be just because WNS has only recently been
assessed for. It is highly likely that, as spring and summer come
around, infected bats will spread WNS to neighboring states and to
additional species.

Here are a couple of links you may be interested in:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/41621.html
http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/Det...gency__ID=1273

It would be wise to look for evidence of WNS in other states; I intend
to do so here in Florida. In fact, I am going further than Ray's
authorization and recommending that any cave in any state with moderate
to high numbers of bats should be avoided completely until the issue has
been properly addressed by scientific scrutiny. As a retired
professional ecologist and an ardent cave resource conservationist, I
know that Earth is in the midst of one of its greatest extinction events
(and that it is due to /Homo sapiens/), know that many species of bats
around the world are under significant threat, and believe that we
should act extremely conservatively on this matter until more is known.

Thus, I will personally support the closure of any cave known to shelter
more than a few bats.

What so it kills us too, or just Batman?

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Originally Posted by Andre

What so it kills us too, or just Batman?

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What is the biggest transferer of disease known to man?
Mosquito's
What is one of the few species that routinely eats mosquitos,supressing the population and therefore keeping down the spread of disease?
Bats
So yeah,Id say it affects people

Wow that's interesting. Do you have any thoughts yet as to what might be contributing to this? I know you said the cause is not yet known but just wondering if you have any ideas yet? In Australia there has been a recent problem of Tasmanian Devils contracting fatal facial tumours which threatens their existence. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow...07/1902683.htm
and
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1663
The rate of extinction of species is a problem right now as it is happening at unprecedented rates.
This following explains more.

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1585594.htm

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Originally Posted by bikersk

Wow that's interesting. Do you have any thoughts yet as to what might be contributing to this? I know you said the cause is not yet known but just wondering if you have any ideas yet? In Australia there has been a recent problem of Tasmanian Devils contracting fatal facial tumours which threatens their existence. [url]http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2007/1902683.htm[\url]
and
[url]http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1663[\url]
The rate of extinction of species is a problem right now as it is happening at unprecedented rates.
This following explains more.

[url]http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1585594.htm[\url]

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What makes this so frightening,is theres no legitimate consenus on it among the experts in the field
Other then the thing is particularly virulant
It only showed up about a year ago.I know most of the experts in the field,and their basic response right now could be summed up with "I dont know".There hasnt even been a consensus on wether the fungus is the symptom or the disease itself
But it is decimating bat colonies,one colony in NY went from 14,000 bats to 1500 this winter
Most people dont appreciate them,but bats are really vital in the Northeast area of North America.That part of the country has lots of lakes and rivers that could easily produce TONS of mosquito's without a healthy bat population to keep it down.
If I was going to make an educated guess,basing it on where its happening right now.Bats will intermingle group to group.Either(this is just a guess,a pretty heavily educated one but still,so take it with a grain of salt)
Either
One of the commercial caves in the region had a tourist carrying a foriegn spore
Or a caver didnt wash his gear and carried one in to a wild cave
Problem is,once something like this gets loose,well its obviously off to the races.MAKC have closed thier caves as well until we figure out what in the hell is happening here

Yeah well mozzis can carry disease as well as being a nuisance. I changed the links in my post so they work now. The rate that these things are happening is alarming.

We should worry, as bats are one of the creatures genetically close enough to us for diseases to jump species.

I understand that current thinking is that Ebola, Marburg and Lhassa virus (which are storybook scary and disgusting ways to go) actually were harboured in the bat population before mutating to infect humans.

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Originally Posted by X

We should worry, as bats are one of the creatures genetically close enough to us for diseases to jump species.

I understand that current thinking is that Ebola, Marburg and Lhassa virus (which are storybook scary and disgusting ways to go) actually were harboured in the bat population before mutating to infect humans.

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Ive heard that about SARS as well
Ignoring the purely altruistic idea that we should be concerned when a once vibrant species is wiped out (the Indiana bat is endangered) theres also as I previously noted,mosquitos spread disease like nothing on earth,bats keep down the mosquito population,and as X noted,diseases have been known to jump from bat to human
While Im not an expert,having worked on bat counts,I do know the experts,and right now their opinion is,they havent an inkling of a clue whats causing this.
So here we have a severe double whammy,we cant just wipe out the infected colonies(even if we could find them all,bats can wedge in to the damndest places),over a disease we dont know affects humans,because they do take care of a bug that often carries diseases we know affects humans
Not to mention having their numbers drop this fast in an area,well I have no plans whatsoever to travel to Albany NY this year,I dont own that much OFF

CC for the info TrainerMonkey

This is getting frightening,almost every day Im hearing about a new closure,Ive spent years studying bats,and all of the theories condtradict to a degree
The closures of caves have now reached down in to WV,with the Guilday or Trout Caves now closed as well
Most theories are focusing on the idea that global warming has either caused a latent virus to become active or allowed one that doesnt affect bats to mutate so that now it does
Trace samples in affected caves have shown the pathogen in the mud of the cave

Oh peachy,its jumped continents
The famous Lascaux cave in France is now being hit with it

Freaky stuff... While we're all on a downer, i'm personally expecting the world to end in 2012.. well, human's world anyway... Maybe this is related?

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Originally Posted by Dizaster

Freaky stuff... While we're all on a downer, i'm personally expecting the world to end in 2012.. well, human's world anyway... Maybe this is related?

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In a weird way its helpfull that it jumped like this
It can help us nail down whats happening

Also the (BNS) Brown Nosing Syndrome has sky rocketed this year…sorry about the bats that sucks, never been a fan of bats myself, but all the same.

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Originally Posted by Trainer Monkey

Oh peachy,its jumped continents
The famous Lascaux cave in France is now being hit with it

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Has any of the larger species been affected yet, Trainer?

Or is it only the small insect eaters that are being affected?

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Originally Posted by Ghost

Has any of the larger species been affected yet, Trainer?

Or is it only the small insect eaters that are being affected?

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As of right now its only killing off bats
Of course SARS didnt even kill off the bats,and look what that did
My best guess,and keep in mind,I only help out with the research,I dont actually write the papers
A spore of some kind has been sitting dormant,with Global Warming temperatures in either a NY or Vermont cave jacked up enough,that this thing became active enough to infect
Now numerous things,including bats live in caves,and they will switch caves,actually raccoons will use witchever one is handy in a pinch.
So youve got numerous transmission routes right there
But of course,racoons are not known for boarding flights to France
So it tells me,a research caver didnt clean his(or her) gear properly after a trip in to an infected cave,or mine